Isadora Vail: Inmate’s story makes rounds via documentary

Reed was convicted in 1998 for the sexual assault and murder of 19-year-old Stacey Stites of Bastrop. Reed is a 28-year-old black man who said he was having an affair with Stites, a white woman engaged to a Giddings police officer. But two UT-Austin students, Ryan Polomski and Frank Bustoz, made a documentary to expose questionable happenings in the case that led to Reed’s conviction and death sentence.

The documentary was even subpoenaed in March, when Reed asked the state district court to throw out his conviction based on DNA evidence that was not made available to the defense at the time of trial. A judge is still studying the case.

Three years ago, “State v. Reed” was just a thesis project by Polomski and Bustoz, who won the 2006 Lone Star States audience award at the South by Southwest film festival. It will play tonight in Austin at 7 p.m. in the George Washington Carver Museum and Cultural Arts Center. The tickets are free, and filmmakers will have a question-and-answer forum after the documentary.